The core players of Keith, Seabrook, Sharp were already on the roster when he took over. Kane and Toews were just entering their rookie seasons, and already on the roster as well. The only main guy not on the roster was Hossa, but all he did was replace Martin Havlet. McDonough's job was to market the team. Putting the games on TV didn't take rocket science. My wife, who knew nothing about hockey prior to 2007, kept saying this. Although, his connections to WGN didn't exactly hurt, either. Yes, the current front office of the Hawks had something to do with the success, but the timing was just perfect for them. They took advantage of what they had, and more power to them.

well said. sure he made the cubs losing cool but harry carry did more for the cubs with bringing people in. as for the hawks...the only move besides winning hockey that the hawks needed was for writz to die or sell and put them on tv. When that happened the fans they had came back.